Rakau hops for apricot and resin in New Zealand IPAs

An old hop with a new name

Rakau has been around longer than its name suggests. It comes from the New Zealand breeding programme at Riwaka and was sold for years as AlphAroma, a name that described what it did: decent alpha acid with good aroma. It was later renamed Rakau, a Māori word, in line with the local names the country gives its hops.

Alpha acid usually runs from about 9 to 11%. The aroma is stone fruit, especially apricot and peach, over pine and resin. That combination of fruit and resin makes it a natural IPA hop.

Bittering and aroma from one hop

Rakau is a true dual purpose variety. At around 10% alpha, it bitters efficiently. For a 20 litre IPA at 60 IBU with a 60 minute addition and 25% utilisation, you would need about:

grams = 50 x 20 / (0.10 x 0.25 x 1,000) = 40 g for 50 IBU from the bittering charge.

The remaining bitterness comes from late additions. Using the same hop throughout gives a coherent beer, with the resin from the bittering charge supporting the fruit from the late hops.

A 20 litre New Zealand IPA

Here is a recipe at about OG 1.062, 6.5% ABV and 60 IBU:

• Pale ale malt 5.4 kg (92%).
• Light crystal malt around 30 EBC 0.29 kg (5%).
• Wheat malt 0.18 kg (3%).
• Rakau 40 g at 60 minutes for about 50 IBU.
• Rakau 15 g at 10 minutes for about 7 IBU.
• Rakau 50 g in a 20 minute whirlpool at 80 °C.
• Rakau 80 g dry hop for three days.

Mash at 65 °C for a dry finish. Ferment with a clean American ale yeast at 18 to 19 °C. This is a West Coast shape, bright and bitter, with apricot and pine leading.

The floor detail: resin needs dryness

Resinous hops can feel heavy in a sweet beer. If the IPA finishes at 1.016 or higher, the residual sugar makes pine taste sticky and the apricot reads as jam. A drier finish, around 1.010 to 1.012 for this recipe, lets the resin feel crisp.

At home, the usual cause of a sweet finish is a mash that ran hot, an underpitched yeast or a fermentation that stalled because the room cooled overnight. Check your thermometer against a reference before you blame the hop.

Pairing Rakau

Rakau blends well with other New Zealand and American hops:

• With Nelson Sauvin for white wine and gooseberry over the apricot.
• With Columbus for more dank resin in a bigger IPA.
• With Motueka for lime on top.

For a wider view of what comes out of New Zealand, our guide to New Zealand and Australian hops sets Rakau beside its neighbours.

Storing it in an Indian kitchen

New Zealand hops are harvested in the southern autumn, from about February to April, so a pack that has crossed the world in a warm container has already had a hard life. Rakau's fruit fades faster than its resin. An old pack may still bitter well and smell of pine while the apricot has gone. Keep foil packs sealed and frozen. After opening, press out the air and seal tightly. In a hot month, take the pack straight from freezer to kettle, not to the counter for an hour while you mash.

If Rakau is unavailable, a blend of a resinous American hop and a stone fruit hop gets close. It will never be quite the same, which is part of the fun.

Reading the bitterness in the glass

A 60 IBU IPA on paper is not always 60 IBU in the glass. Utilisation varies with boil vigour, wort gravity, kettle geometry and how long the hops sit in hot wort after flameout. Homebrew kettles with a long, slow cool can add noticeable bitterness from whirlpool hops that a calculator undercounts.

The practical answer is to brew the recipe once, taste it honestly and adjust. If it tastes harsher than you wanted, cut the 60 minute Rakau by 5 g next time and leave the late hops alone. Change one thing per batch so you know what moved.

Common questions

What does Rakau taste like?

Apricot and peach over pine and resin. It suits IPAs where stone fruit and resin can work together.

Is Rakau the same as AlphAroma?

Yes. Rakau was first released as AlphAroma and later renamed.

Can Rakau be used for bittering?

Yes. At around 9 to 11% alpha acid it bitters efficiently and also adds aroma late.